Question 1: Aspects of being a manager  (Economy, Business, Management)

What various stakeholder groups did oil giant BP have to respond to following the massive 2010 oil spill in theGulf of Mexico?  From what you know about the oil spill, how would you evaluate BP executives behaviour interms of their ethical approach.

Question 2: (Managing Human Resources)

1) Key environmental trends

Conduct a scan of the general and specific environments for an organisation of your choice. Which three environmental trends do you think will affect the organisation most profoundly over the next 12 months? What impact do you think they will have?

2) Ethics and Corporate Social responsibility (CSR)

Read the article by Milton Friedman, the Nobel prize-winning economist and a major proponent of the shareholder profit maximization doctrine. Watch the video by Edward Freeman, one of the 'fathers' of stakeholder theory (you do not have to watch the entire video, the first few minutes would be sufficient). In addition, revisit the article by Roger Martin 'The age of Customer Capitalism'. Compare and contrast the views of these prominent thought leaders on CSR. Who is 'right', in your view?

Question 3: (Strategic Thinking, Strategic Planning)

Strategic thinking

What, in your view, are the key attributes of strategic thinking?  Interview a manager you know on how they would define strategic thinking.  Compare your views.

Question 4: (Strategic Thinking, Strategic Planning)

Organisational structure and its evolution

Interview a manager you know about their organisation's structure.  Why do they have the structure they have? How well do they think it works? If they changed structures, what would they change to? Why?  Analyse the result of your interview in the context of the L.Greiner's "evolution and revolution" model.